On Wednesday night, the OKC Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs 122-113. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 30-point performance, Oklahoma City managed to tie up this expected slugfest of a conference finals matchup.
It was a massive win, which featured significant improvements on the glass and in the shooting department. Victor Wembanyama was also nullified by his standards.
In a game where many positives could be found, however, the Thunder may be faced with an ugly truth.
Oklahoma City secured a victory, but their current quality of play simply might not be good enough to win the series.
In theory, the Thunder should've dominated the Spurs. The turnover margin was 21-9. De'Aaron Fox was ruled out for the second straight game. Dylan Harper played just 12 minutes before getting hurt. Victor Wembanyama played a lackluster game, compromised by a mixture of fatigue from playing 49 minutes just 48 hours prior and running into the defensive freight train that was Isaiah Hartenstein.
These were the components for a "perfect storm" situation.
If given a plus-12 turnover margin, a poor game by the opposition's star player, and the absence of two of their three best supporting cast members, OKC would've arguably beaten nearly every other team by 30.
Yet they won by a mere nine points.
The Spurs' worst still proved nearly too much or Thunder
The Spurs' shooting splits saved them from embarrassment on Wednesday night, but it shouldn't have been enough to keep them neck and neck with the league's best team.
After grabbing the lead early in the second quarter, OKC struggled to hold onto it. San Antonio tied the game up at 69 early in the third and was still within three points of the lead in the quarter's final minute.
In short, the Thunder couldn't put them away.
In a game where the ball always seemed to bounce the way of a blue jersey, a measly nine-point win shouldn't exactly strike confidence in Thunder fans.
It's a reminder that the San Antonio Spurs are a different animal altogether and a far cry from the two teams OKC swept in the previous rounds.
Through two games, San Antonio has simply looked like the better team.
They outmuscled the Thunder in a Game 1 loss in which OKC struggled to keep up, and they beat themselves in Game 2. For arguably the first time in two years, it appears that OKC may not be in control of its own destiny.
It may just be the Spurs' series to lose.
As the Thunder travel to San Antonio to play Game 3 on Friday, it will be interesting to see how Wemby and his beat-up Spurs respond in front of their home fans.
Injuries have begun to mount, and the series could come down to who can remain the healthiest in this battle between two heavyweights.
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